Schools Surveys In Mail District Asks Feedback On Year-round Plans

Broward School District officials are set to mail about 157,000 surveys to public school parents today. They are due back to the schools on Oct. 30.

Some parents are already upset about the district`s demand to learn about and decide upon year-round education in the next three weeks.

``I`m telling people if they don`t feel comfortable, vote against it,`` said Nancy Thomas, whose two daughters attend Harbordale Elementary in Fort Lauderdale. ``There is a lot of concern that this is rather rushed.``

But the surveys are going out after nearly two years of study by district officials and debate around Broward County. Now, school officials are pushing for parents at crowded schools to approve year-round education.

``There are some people who expect an individual phone call and to be spoon- fed the information,`` said William Bell, principal at Tamarac Elementary.

If fewer than 30 percent of parents oppose it, a school could implement a year-round schedule for the 1993-94 school year. But that means parents who do not vote are counted as advocates of the idea.

Year-round education involves spreading the 180 days of a school year around all four seasons. Students would get a few short breaks instead of one long summer vacation.

Crowded schools, such as Tamarac Elementary, are being asked to consider a ``multitrack`` year-round schedule. That plan splits students into five groups on staggered schedules, but only four groups attend classes at a time. That can boost a school`s capacity by 25 percent.

District officials have studied the idea, conducted countless school meetings, heard from critics and collected data. Last month, the School Board unanimously approved the volunteer year-round school experiment, calling it the best way to accommodate 10,000 more students every year.

Despite the controversy, many parents say they are uninformed about year- round education and think they are being cowed into making a decision in a short time.

Information packets, videotapes and cable broadcasts are available to parents looking for information about year-round education.

But many parents are also upset that those outlets advocate the concept without presenting arguments that have been made against it in the past two years.

The information is designed ``to say you really ought to consider it as a viable option,`` said Katherine Blasik, coordinator of year-round education for the district.

Susan Starkey, a parent from Silver Ridge Elementary in Davie, said she is distributing fliers to persuade parents to vote against the idea.

``This is our only option,`` she said.

ROUND EDUCATION WHAT SUPPORTERS SAY

-- Broward expects 57,000 more students in five years but cannot afford 49 more schools for them. Year-round is better than double sessions, larger classes or more portable classrooms.

-- Studies show low-performing students do better on a year-round schedule; high-performing students do no worse.

-- Review is shorter when students return from short breaks, as opposed to a long summer break.

-- Wherever year-round education has been tried, schools and day care providers have met parents` needs.

-- In Orange County, parents got their first schedule choice 85 percent of the time; almost all other parents got their second choice.

-- The overall cost for year-round schools may be higher, but not on a per- student basis.

-- Year-round education will only postpone the need for more schools, so why tamper with the existing schedule?

-- If elementary schools try year-round education and middle schools do not, children in the same family will not necessarily have common time off. Some parents fear day care will become more complicated and expensive.

-- Children will miss traditional summer camp programs.

-- Year-round education would work better if everyone did it; that way, employers, religious schools, camps and day care would be forced to adapt.

WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION

-- Watch a videotape that should be at your school this week.

-- Most Broward cable systems will broadcast that video on ITV Presents from 5 to 6 p.m. today, Friday, next Tuesday and Oct. 23.